From the airport (whether International at Galeão also known as Tom Jobim airport - code is GIG- or the domestic one known as Santos Dumont in Downtown Rio -code is SDU) take one of the shuttle buses just outside Arrivals on the far right. Make sure the one you take goes to Copacabana. Usually it stops at the bus station ("Rodoviaria" first), then the Santos Dumont airport before lugging the Bay. Make sure you spot the splendid hilltop Gloria church) and every now and then on its mountaintop the statue of Christ the Redeemer. Admire the superb horseshoe-shaped Botafogo Bay and, across it, the Sugar Loaf mountain.

When you go through two tunnels you'll know you're in Copacabana, and you'll soon be enjoying unimpeded views of the Atlantic Ocean. Just tell the driver to drop you off at the Pestana Hotel. From there the penthouse is only two blocks away: walk up Rua Constante Ramos (on your right you'll see a splendid Miami Beach-like Art Deco building) till you hit Avenida Nossa Senhora de Copacabana.